I love the smell of anise in the morning

[LrgmouthShad]

[Catt]

So do I ?

 

My wife loves black licorice, I smile when she opens some.

[scaleface]

My dad gave me a bottle when I was little . He told me it was illegal . I dont remember ever using it .

[Mike L]

I grew up drinking Anisette (an Italian liqueur) we imported from Sicily. 
We would have it at every holiday and family function until I gave up drinking years ago. 
 

Also, as I said before it’s the main ingredient in my home made fish “scent”

 

 

 

 

Mike

[WRB]

4 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

You just created the next hot scent “Naplam”.

Tom?

[padon]

mixed with vanilla extract it makes a good early season whitetail scent. spread it on the bushes around your stand and they will mill around smelling and licking the bushes. gives you a chance to draw and aim.

[ChrisD46]

*If it gives you confidence - then that is a good thing . BANG garlic scent does similar for me ... Conversely , apparent "non - scents" such as Mega Strike and the newer Bait Fuel use a different approach and may be the better choice .

[the reel ess]

16 hours ago, Catt said:

So do I ?

 

My wife loves black licorice, I smile when she opens some.

Everyone in my family hates it but me. It gives that little tongue numbing sensation that's just heavenly.

 

Anise is my favorite soft plastic scent. Garlic is probably my least favorite. I can't smell the coffee scent. Probably because I drink strong, black coffee.

[WRB]

According to Berkeley’s Dr Keith Jones anise oil has no positive bass attracting qualities, same with garlic my 2 favorites.

Dr Jones goes into details why gel scents are worthless as bass of olfactory glands can’t detect molecules.

It’s hard to debate Berkeley’s success with Power and Max scents.

Now we come down to experience vs science.

long before Power baits 100% pure anise oil mixed with glycerin was the go to soft plastic worm scent from the late 60’s because it worked everywhere and out fished plastic worms without scent.

Not knowing any better the bass liked it.

Using hair jigs a few drops of 100% pure anise oil with fresh garlic added to pork rind jars worked good, didn’t mat the hair. Several hundred big bass liked it over the past 50 years. 
Scents do 2 things; mask negative odors and provide confidence, they don’t attract sight feeders like bass.

Tom

[2tall79]

I've been adding it to my pork frog containers for years.......not the oil but the extract.

[Captain Phil]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Now we come down to experience vs science.

long before Power baits 100% pure anise oil mixed with glycerin was the go to soft plastic worm scent from the late 60’s because it worked everywhere and out fished plastic worms without scent.  Not knowing any better the bass liked it.

 

Years ago we carried dipping pots of anise oil in our boats.  Whether it actually attracted bass is debatable, but we thought it did and that was what mattered.  Since then I have seen all manner of fish attractants come and go.  One guy I knew swore the best fish attractant was WD-40.  When salt impregnated lures came out, they were all the rage.  There is no doubt smell is one factor in attracting fish to a bait.  If anyone here has ever fished in salt water with a jig, they know the effect of adding a small piece of shrimp to the jig. I like to use oily fish attractant because I believe it makes the bait look shiny in the water and makes it easier to fish in cover.    The brand doesn't matter to me. 

[GRiver]

My favorite….garlic, then anise…… smells good, but it sure don’t taste like it……or so I’ve been told.
Is it an attractant? I don’t know. Maybe if they are super close and curious. Track it down like a catfish or shark, I don’t think so.
Does it make them maybe hold on longer….. I believe so. If it gives me a second or so longer to react to a bite, I all in.

But just because I believe don’t make it so.

Sure do like how it makes the skirts not stick together, tubes easier to rig too.

[ghost]

Me too!

[Way north bass guy]

Not a big fan of anise smell, but I absolutely love the smell of powerbait. Always have. If I was a bass, I’d have been caught on a power worm in two seconds ?. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

Gulp minnows taste a lot better than they smell.